The Emily Eyefinger Collection
Page 15
‘My father told me that it means “brave”. But I think it just means Unaisi.’
‘Do you live here?’ Emily asked.
‘Yes, in the village. It is just over there,’ the girl said, pointing. ‘My family used to live on Ulunivanua Loaloa but it made us leave.’
‘Where is it?’ Emily asked.
‘There,’ Una said, pointing to the volcano. ‘It means “Black Mountain”. Hot rock came out and everyone had to come here. That was a very long time ago, when my grandfather and grandmother were little. Come. I will show you some beautiful shells.’
For the next few days Emily and Una swam together and played together. They paddled a small canoe around the reef. Una showed Emily how to make a palm leaf into a hat. And she even showed her how to tie her ankles together to climb a coconut palm. This made Emily’s parents a little nervous. But they didn’t say anything because the palm Emily climbed hung out over the sea. If Emily fell, she would land in the water.
Una showed Emily all around the village where her family lived. She introduced Emily to her parents and her grandparents and to lots of cousins. The two girls had a lovely time together.
Every now and then, the black volcano would make a rumbling sound and then send up a burst of smoke.
Then one morning, very early when Emily was still asleep, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
‘Emily, wake up,’ a little voice whispered.
Emily opened her eyes. It was Una.
‘Una?’ Emily whispered back. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing is wrong. It is a very special day. It is Ancestor Day.’
‘Ancestor Day?’
‘Today we think about our ancestors. We go to the island where we lived before. Do you want to come?’
‘How would we get there?’
‘In canoes. We will be back by evening. Ask your parents if you can come with us. I want you to come. We’ll have a picnic. It will be fun.’
‘Sure. Let me ask my parents.’
That morning Emily set off with Una and many others from her village in fifteen long canoes. The water was calm and everyone, including Emily and Una, took their turns paddling.
Soon they stepped ashore. Then there was a great rumble and Emily looked up at the top of the volcano high above them.
‘Look!’ she said. ‘Look at all the smoke coming out!’
Suddenly Una’s grandfather yelled to her in her language. Una came over to Emily.
‘Emily, please,’ she said. ‘Do not turn towards the volcano.’
‘Why not?’ Emily asked.
‘It is bad luck,’ Una said.
‘But I saw some lava coming out of the top.’
‘It is okay, Emily. That happens all the time. My grandfather says that no one may turn their face towards the volcano.’
‘But what if a lot of lava comes out? Then we’ll have to get away quickly just the way your people did many years ago.’
‘I know it sounds silly to you but it is something my people have not done for a very long time. And my grandfather is an old man. Everyone has to do what he says.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Emily said.
‘Do not be sorry, Emily. You did not know,’ Una said, putting her hand on Emily’s shoulder. ‘Come. Let me show you where our village was.’
Una and Emily followed a path through the trees. Then they came to a field.
‘Here,’ Una said. ‘This is where all the houses were. It is such a pretty place.’
Once more there was a roar and the ground shook.
‘It’s very nice,’ Emily said. ‘But I think it’s better where you are now — away from the volcano.’
‘That is true, Emily.’
Soon everyone had come to the field. Some of the boys got out a ball and kicked it around.
The adults unpacked the food and after a while everyone sat down together and had a wonderful feast. They mostly spoke in their own language but sometimes they spoke to Emily in English. They were all very friendly and happy to have a visitor with them. Especially one with an eye on the end of her finger.
Then Una’s grandfather stood up. Everyone stopped talking.
‘We must be very quiet now, Emily,’ Una whispered. ‘He will talk about the old days and about the ancestors. He will speak in our language.’
‘Okay,’ Emily said.
But what wasn’t okay were the rumblings and shaking of the Black Volcano. As the old man spoke, the sounds got louder and louder and the shaking got stronger and stronger.
Emily wished that Una’s grandfather would stop talking so they could go back. The volcano was getting too scary. She also wished that she could look up at the top of the volcano to see what was happening. But she knew that if she turned around, she’d hurt people’s feelings.
Emily watched as a flock of birds flew past, heading for the other island.
Suddenly Emily remembered what Una had said: ‘No one may turn their face towards the volcano.’
‘I know what I’ll do,’ Emily thought, folding her arms. ‘If I do this, I can look up at the top of the volcano with my eyefinger. That way I can keep an eye on it and I won’t be turning my face towards it — just my finger. No one said anything about eyefingers.’
Emily watched with her eyefinger as huge puffs of black smoke came out of the volcano. Then there was a distant bang and rocks flew up into the air. A huge gush of lava flowed down, out of the volcano.
‘We have to go now,’ Emily whispered to Una. ‘The volcano is erupting!’
‘We cannot turn our faces, Emily,’ Una said. ‘My grandfather is still talking.’
‘Una!’ Emily said. ‘You don’t understand — the lava is coming! We have to get into the canoes and go right now or we’ll be killed!’
‘Shhh. How do you know?’ Una asked.
‘I’m watching it with my eyefinger. The lava is coming down the volcano right now. In a few minutes it will be here and then it will be too late to get away!’
‘You can see it with your eyefinger?’
‘Yes! Now tell the others.’
Una stood up and began speaking in her language. She pointed up at the volcano but didn’t look at it. She also pointed to Emily and her eyefinger.
Suddenly, mothers and fathers picked up their young children and everyone was running through the trees towards the canoes. Emily could hear the crash of huge stones coming through the trees.
When they got to the beach, there were stones dropping from the sky and landing all around them. Two of the canoes were hit and were broken into pieces. Then a huge red wall of lava flowed over the hill, right towards them.
Everyone scrambled into the canoes and paddled as fast as they could. Streams of lava flowed down into the sea behind them making great sizzling noises.
In a few minutes, the canoes were away from the volcano and almost at the other island. The beach was crowded with people watching the volcano. Emily saw her parents looking very worried. She waved to them and they smiled and waved back.
As they drifted in towards shore, everyone stopped paddling.
‘That was too close!’ Una said.
‘Yes, it was,’ Emily gasped. ‘But we’re all okay and that’s all that matters.’
‘We are only okay because of your eyefinger,’ Una said.
‘No, we are also okay because you were brave,’ Emily said.
‘Me? Brave? I am not brave at all.’
‘Oh, yes, you are,’ Emily said. ‘You were very brave to stand up and talk like that when you knew you weren’t supposed to. I think your name means “brave” after all.’
Una laughed.
‘Will you write to me when you go back home, Emily?’ she asked.
‘Of course I will,’ Emily said.
‘We could write emails,’ Una said. ‘My sister writes emails where she works.’
And that was the beginning of a long pen-friendship between Emily and Una.
About the Author
Duncan Ba
ll is the author of many popular children’s books, including a series about Australia’s only talking dog, Selby. His books have won and been shortlisted for many prizes, most of them voted by children. Duncan lives in Sydney, New South Wales.
For more information about Emily Eyefinger
and Duncan’s other books
see the website at:
www.harpercollins.com.au/selby
Copyright
HarperCollinsPublishers
Emily Eyefinger was first published in 1992 in the USA by Simon and Schuster and in 1997 in Australia by Angus&Robertson; Emily Eyefinger Secret Agent was first published in 1993 in the USA by Simon and Schuster and in 1997 in Australia by Angus&Robertson; Emily Eyefinger and the Lost Treasure was first published in 1994 in the USA by Simon and Schuster and in 1997 in Australia by Angus&Robertson; and Emily Eyefinger and the Black Volcano was first published in 2000 by Angus&Robertson.
Angus&Robertson is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia
This combined edition published in 2011
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited.
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Duncan Ball 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000, 2011
Illustrations copyright © Craig Smith 1997, 2000, 2011
The right of Duncan Ball to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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ISBN: 9781743096420
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Cover image © Craig Smith